What comic books have you read today?11515
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michaelekrupp private msg quote post Address this user | |
I have been working on this volume here and there for most of the year, but I wanted to withhold commenting until I reached the end. This collection reprints every appearance of the golden age Cat-Man. These are only the Cat-Man features, not the complete issues of Cat-Man Comics, although those collections are also available from Gwandanaland. This series is really an interesting microcosm of the entire golden age of comics. The character began as a straight up Tarzan clone, raised by jungle cats instead of apes. His original costume was basically little more than a loin cloth with a cape.  In the first stories he was given search light eyes, which they must have decided was a pretty dumb idea, as it was quickly revised to the ability to see in the dark. The loin cloth costume also quickly gave way a more traditional superhero outfit.  The Cat-Man was also given nine lives. He started off burning through them fast, but after being killed in the first three stories they must have realized that pattern was unsustainable, because he was only killed once more in the entire series. When sidekicks became en vogue, Cat-Man was, of course, given one, although with a twist. He may have been the only golden age hero to have a young girl as his ward/ crime fighting assistant. The Kitten joined the cast in Cat-Man comics #5.   Like most WW2 era superheroes, Cat-Man’s foes were mainly foreign spies and saboteurs. At first, David Merryweather (AKA Cat-Man) would offer his assistance to police as an independent special investigator. After a while, the writers decided to put him in the army, which is where he caught most of his cases. Cat-Man made his way through the war years using this formula and was initially cancelled as the superhero fad faded. He was quickly brought back however, with a new direction and different creators. The stories took on more of a crime comics feel. The violence was increased and the Kitten metamorphosed from a ten year old to a fully developed teenager. The origin story was reworked and Cat-Man and the Kitten went from foiling the plots of spies and saboteurs to battling the evil Dr. Macabre. The stories continued in this vein until the book was finally cancelled for good.   If you have any interest in Golden Age comics, this is a series that is well worth reading. I purchased this collection on Amazon. I don’t remember the exact price, but I think it was somewhere in the $30-$40 range. Gwandanaland has a wide variety of golden age collections available on Amazon. You can email Lance for a full list; you will be amazed at the selection!  |
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michaelekrupp private msg quote post Address this user | |
I don’t have time to post all of my recent reads, so I am just going to post the top 5:     All were fantastic reads! |
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willieCPA4646 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Captain America #28 through #30 (Coates / Kirk) - finished the run last night. | ||
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 Beaten by boat oars
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Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user | |
Entertaining reads. Trying to get caught up on stacks upon stacks of issues.  |
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| Post 754 • IP flag post | ||
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michaelekrupp private msg quote post Address this user | |
Read a trio of great Superman comics today, among others.   |
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| Post 755 • IP flag post | ||
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michaelekrupp private msg quote post Address this user | |
These were all good reads. I am getting pretty bored with the intelligent Hulk. Definitely past time to bring back the monster! Spider-Man fights a fake Hobgoblin this issue. I am sure the intention was to build suspense, but I found it somewhat annoying. The Batman books were solid once again. I didn’t like Chimera as well as Nocturna, but I am loving watching Don Newton and Gene Colan trading riffs on the artwork from Batman to Detective. I do wish they would do away with the Green Arrow backup feature in Detective, though. It reads like uninspired filler material. Sword of the Atom is progressing nicely, although they spent a little too much time rehashing the events of issue one in issue two for my liking. Another great Sgt. Rock story this month, although I find myself wishing that they would save all the various backup features for G. I. Combat and give us more Sgt. Rock here. As for U.S.1, I find myself liking this comic more and more with each issue! Yes, it is a little on the silly side, but it is always fun.       |
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| Post 756 • IP flag post | ||
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michaelekrupp private msg quote post Address this user | |
A lot of high end reprints were coming out in the second half of ‘83. The Kree/Skrull war was pretty fun to revisit. The slick paper and enhanced colors really do add something to the experience.  Neal Adams must have been pretty popular at the time. While Marvel was giving his Avengers work the deluxe treatment, DC did the same for his Green Lantern/ Green Arrow.  These were considered a pretty big deal in their day. I don’t know that they aged particularly well, but they do contain some fun moments. For example:  That’s funny in any era! Archie/ Red Circle was not to be left out of the deluxe format reprint derby. Their entry that same month was classic Simon/ Kirby Fly reprints from the late ‘50s (also including a story by Al Williamson and Angelo Torres. These are actually really good stories and art if you’ve never read them! Since I know you all read this thread for investment advice, I will go even further and say that I feel that those early issues of Adventures of the Fly and the two issues of The Double Life of Private Strong are probably the most undervalued silver age books still out there. They are equal in quality to their Marvel and DC counterparts, far harder to find and go for a fraction of the price. Just sayin’…   That’s barely scratching the surface as far as my recent reading goes, but unfortunately I am out of time. |
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Beaten by boat oars
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Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by michaelekrupp I see your Canadian price variant! I'll try to post some pics if I remember. It's been slow going with getting any comics read. |
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| Post 758 • IP flag post | ||
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Beaten by boat oars
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Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user | |
Still getting caught up on these stacks. I've very much enjoying A Man Among Ye. Hot pirate wenches, like in the movie Pirates. I picked it up on a whim because I had read about Mary Read before.  X-Men Legends is just a good throwback to the 80s and 90s.  Just because  I should finish my stack of Ghosts this week and then start on Witching Hour before digging into some DC Black Label stuff and other pull list material. Too many comics... |
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| Post 759 • IP flag post | ||
 Suck it up, buttercup!!
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KatKomics private msg quote post Address this user | |
| reading Action Comics #1 (reprint obviously - I'd never read my 1st print lol!!!) shockingly fast paced - blew threw the whole back story on one page and the adventures were quick!! not too bad even by todays standards! |
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| Post 760 • IP flag post | ||
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Beaten by boat oars
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Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user | |
Caught up on my unread issues of Ghosts. Almost American tells the story of a husband and wife team of Russian spies defecting to the US. Nothing particularly tense or overly dramatic yet but I think business is going to pick up with issue 3. The art is pretty solid for the title.  Fun read, no ads, some funny moments but nice to see the heroes and some villains humanized in ways that don't involve the fate of the universe.  |
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michaelekrupp private msg quote post Address this user | |
Been going for variety lately:        |
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| Post 762 • IP flag post | ||
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Beaten by boat oars
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Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user | |
Read parts two and three of War of the Bounty Hunters. I'm still behind and might read part four plus the tie-in/cash grab issues tomorrow. I read all these series anyway so I don't really think I needed the main WotBH mini series since a lot of recapped in the tie-in issues. Some good writing and definitely not as disjointed as most crossovers. Firestar was kinda meh, but it does go for a shot to the feels.   |
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| Post 763 • IP flag post | ||
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Suck it up, buttercup!!
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KatKomics private msg quote post Address this user | |
| DC vs Vampires #1 - actually...not sh!t - pleasant surprise - will pickup next issue!! | ||
| Post 764 • IP flag post | ||
 Masculinity takes a holiday.
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EbayMafia private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @Studley_Dudley that Fantastic Four Roast was a favorite in my house when I was a kid. | ||
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kidhuman private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I started reading the new defenders series today. 1st book is pretty good. | ||
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michaelekrupp private msg quote post Address this user | |
I spent today wrapping up my journey back in time revisiting the October 1983 cover dated issues. Here are a few of the recent highlights. This Captain Victory Special was a silly fun excursion into Earth history by Kirby. Absolutely hilarious!🤣  The 1983 Rom Annual was a pleasant surprise. It featured the spaceknight squadron, a whole slew of characters with interesting powers and personality quirks. It’s a shame that I missed this back in ‘83, because it really delighted my inner 13 year old!  The Spirit color comic was the first attempt by any publisher to reprint the Spirit sections in chronological order. What had been presented previously was a hodgepodge of different eras in no particular (even completely illogical) order. Kitchen Sink presents the post WW2 strips here in order, while presenting the pre-war strips in the Will Eisner Quarterly magazine. If you are looking to get into the Spirit, this is the place to start. It is certainly one of the most important and influential strips in the history of the medium. I actually had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Eisner and talking to him for a few minutes at the Motor City Con back in the ‘90s. A nicer gentleman you will never meet.  It was great fun revisiting the first issue of The Badger. This series offers great action, an interesting cast of characters and doesn’t take itself too seriously. If you have never checked it out, I highly recommend it! |
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kidhuman private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Finished up Defenders 2 and 3 today. very interesting books, I like them so far. Tomorrow I am planning on reading M.O.M. 1-3 |
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michaelekrupp private msg quote post Address this user | |
 Here is a comic that shook the hobby when it was originally released. Thor 337 was an immediate sensation and rightfully so. Just reading it brings back that feeling of excitement that this book generated at the time. Simonson took a long running title and completely scrapped everything about it and replaced it with something AWESOME! In both story and art, this was a complete departure from the years of mediocrity that had preceded it! Thor immediately became a must read title and this issue became a highly sought after back issue. Everyone who had given up on Thor before this point were left scrambling to try to get a copy, and they were going for $20 virtually overnight! The impact and excitement that the Simonson Thor run generated in 1983 has been somewhat forgotten as the decades roll by, but all you have to do is reread this comic to be taken back to those magical days when Walt Simonson shook the comics world! |
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michaelekrupp private msg quote post Address this user | |
About a week or so ago, on a thread discussing long term comic values, someone suggested going back and reading Carl Barks’ Donald Duck. This struck me as a most excellent idea, so I have taken to adding a couple of Barks WDC&S 10 pagers to my after work/ pre-bedtime reading every night. This has really added some spice to my reading experience lately! Barks was not only a brilliant writer and gag man, but his masterful ability to convey human emotion on the faces of anthropomorphic characters is incredible! His range of expression using cartoon ducks blows away what most other artists can convey using actual people! The man really was a genius and a true original master in our medium. If you have prejudged Donald Duck because there are no muscle bound super heroes you need to open your mind and READ DONALD DUCK! |
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michaelekrupp private msg quote post Address this user | |
Here’s a comic I read last night. A solid but unspectacular issue, except for the surprise that I got when I opened it!   WTF?!? The first page is the right hand side of the centerfold! The second page is page 14 of the story. What in the world happened to this book during the printing process?!?After a little further inspection I discovered that the pages were indeed printed in the right order, except that they were stapled to the cover backwards! I have never seen this happen in any comic book ever! The centerfold is the last page and the first page:  The two page center spread is on the first and last pages:  The comic is still perfectly readable. You just have to start in the middle and then go back and read the first half last. Crazy! In 45 years of collecting and thousands of comics read, I have NEVER seen this printing defect before! Has anyone else out there ever encountered this? |
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Jesse_O private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by michaelekrupp I recall that happening when I was a kid reading comics. In fact, it may have even been this issue!! Back in '83, Iron Man was on my reading list. |
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michaelekrupp private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @Jesse_O interesting. I will have to look at some other copies of this book and check it out. I am going to a small local con this weekend so I should have opportunity to do so. I was a fairly regular IM reader back then, but it is possible I missed this issue back in ‘83. I know for sure that I got this copy from a guy on EBay who had a four or five year subscription to IM. When he sent them to me they were still in those plain brown wrapper they used to mail the subscription copies in. | ||
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willieCPA4646 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| DC Black Label: Batman Vs. Bigby #1 and #2 (Issue #3 on its way) - Bill Willingham, Brian Level and Jay Leisten. | ||
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Beaten by boat oars
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Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user | |
Some stuff I read over the last week or so. Mostly getting caught up on my pull lists so I can create room a d file this stuff away.     |
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michaelekrupp private msg quote post Address this user | |
Since I buy a lot of my books out of the discount boxes at shows, I often just bring them home and file them away. I usually don’t go through them carefully until I actually sit down to read them. Every once in a while I find some sort of surprise, like the comic that was stapled into the cover backwards that I posted a while back. I found several issues of Amethyst where the original owner had carefully removed the ad pages from the magazines for some reason. They read fine, and I probably wouldn’t even have noticed if the books hadn’t been slightly lighter and thinner than normal. Sometimes I find a pleasant surprise. This book, for example: When I opened up the book to read it I found it had been signed by the artist on the inside.  Not sure where I bought this one. Most likely a dollar box somewhere. It’s possible I got it from MCS, which is who I use to fill in holes after putting together the bulk of the runs through the discount boxes (I use EBay only as a last resort nowadays). Just curious how often this happens to the rest of you? I can think of at least two other examples off the top of my head where I found autographed comics in the 50 cent/ dollar boxes and didn’t discover it until later. If anyone is interested I will post them later on. If you have one to show, feel free to show it off. |
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Quote:Originally Posted by Jesse_O I ended up buying the graphic novels of the series. I got them today along with my other MCS preorders and purchases. I read the first one today. I'd put it down only to pick it right back up. It's pretty good!! There is a role playing game called "Vampire: the Masquerade" and this series (Winter's Teeth), the next one (World of Darkness Crimson Thaw) and other graphic novels are about the characters in the game. In the back of the gn, there are character profiles and other assorted game related material. I find them interesting also, even thoughI don't play the game. In a nutshell, the vampires in the Twin Cities (and other major cities) are set up like the mafia. This is the story of the main characters, the cliques, the politics and events that happen when the "boss" is betrayed and killed. The main group of characters are vampires of all sorts. However, there are also Werewolves, vampire hunters, a rat type of creature and other things that live in the darkness. I'm loving this and I'm slowly getting drawn into their world. Honestly, there are very few comic series that draw me in and it's been a few years since I found one.  |
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Masculinity takes a holiday.
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EbayMafia private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by michaelekrupp @michaelekrupp do you keep them all? How big has your collection grown from this? |
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| Post 778 • IP flag post | ||
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| @EbayMafia Yeah, I bought them all with the intention of keeping them. At my peak I probably had around 35 or 40 full long boxes in my PC. Back in the 80s and 90s I was able to build solid runs of just about every major title through the 2,3 and 4 for a dollar boxes. Probably from about the mid-70s through the early 90s. I quit buying new comics in ‘92 and have never really ventured beyond that, chronologically speaking. I also had a pretty impressive collection of golden and silver age books. Unfortunately I lost my job in 2006 and spent the next several years selling comics on the internet, working either part time or not at all until around 2010. At that point I had pretty much zero actual comics, although I had/ have most of the GA and SA stuff in collected editions. That period didn’t last long. By 2011 I was attending shows again, hitting the discount boxes mainly with the intent of recovering comics that I had bought and read as a kid. I also acquired an interest in Harveys at that point and began buying big lots of Harvey comics on EBay. My interests continued to evolve and I discovered the Harvey bound file sets, selling most of my floppy Harveys (excepting the giant size books) to finance this expensive interest. I have also expanded my collecting from just the comics I owned as a kid to nearly everything that came out during the years when I was an avid comic book reader (the 1980s). I have rebuilt to somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 long boxes of comics, probably 75-80% being 1980s books and many of these from the discount boxes. | ||
| Post 779 • IP flag post | ||
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Suck it up, buttercup!!
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KatKomics private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Just read DC vs Vampires #2 - again - a surprisingly good read - looking forward to #3!! | ||
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